Garage Heroes (In Training)

Learning as we go. Come along with us and Enjoy the Ride!

Guests & Interviews

GHIT 0141: Rachel Baker and Gina Ma from Driving Forward Together

Driving Forward Together

Rachel Baker and Gina Ma from Driving Forward Together joined us for this episode where we discuss the goals and ambitions for Driving Forward Together and where they would like to be in the coming years.  We also get to know Rachel and Gina’s driving and racing history as well as getting to know them a bit better.  We hope to see them out at a race next year.  On Dominating with Dawson, we cover more vision, as in looking through the turn and trying to see as far down the track as possible.  Information is power in racing too.

You can follow Driving Forward Together at:

Instagram and Facebook at Driving Forward Together or on their website.

Also, they have some great merch through their Facebook page, some is even free.

If you want to follow Gina, her Instagram is amazingly titled @GinaIsCuterThanAnyPanda

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and

Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  What is the history of Driving Forward Together and how the group hopes to improve our racing culture and more. 

2)  How Gina and Rachel started out with cars and initially started racing

3)  Gina and Jennifer bond over the 2 Soul Red ND2 MX5 Miatas.

4)  What Driving Forward together is doing to assist ladies in autocross and motorsports

5)  How autocross and track days can appeal to different personalities and we all agree that you should try as many forms of driving and racing to find the best fit for you.

6)  How to find out about autocross and how easy your first event will be.

7)  A great discussion of the various women only events and series.

8)  We also go over the Faster Together incentive program that has partnered with EVO School and Beyond Seat Time, we have done both separately and found each to very helpful towards our driving progression.

9)  How COVID 19 has affected their season so far and any accommodations that are being institute, as always it seems to be a fluid situation and vary from location to location.

10)  They also offer several great interviews of fellow drivers in their Driving Forward Series that can be found on their website.

11)  Some solid tops to the new and soon to be new autocross drivers.

12)  A tremendous story that illustrates the importance of driving vs the importance of the car.  Great driving will usually make up for a great deal of horsepower and dollars spent on the vehicle.

13)  The barrier to entry is really very mall to start at your first autocross event.  For reference, entry will usually be less than $100 per driver, sometimes often under $50 and all you need is a helmet and shoes.  Rental helmets are often offered as well.  So, borrow a car or take yours and give it a try.

14)  Bill is working to go up to Massachusetts.  It sounds like Rachel really has a great set up.

15)  A horror story of Gina’s first time at an autocross.  This almost never happens, everyone is usually nothing but supportive and looking to share the fun.

16)  Ziggy wants to let us know his favorite car movie.

GHIT 0141: Rachel Baker and Gina Ma from Driving Forward Together

GHIT 0138: Lara Vernon, Friend and Racing Driver

Lara Vernon – Race Car Driver
Winning iRacing's 24 Hours of Lemans
Winner of the 2020 iRacing 24 Hours of Le Mans
Winning at 24 Hours of Lemons True 24 at CMP 2020
Lara Vernon Won the 2020 24 Hour at CMP with the 24 Hours of Lemons

Lara Vernon is our guest for this episode.  She is a racing driver that is rapidly moving up the ranks of amateur racing.  We have raced alongside her at our last event in Charlotte on the Roval and she just returned from winning the B class event with the true 24 hour race at CMP with the Sorry For Party team, driving in both their Firebird and 944 race cars during the race and posting the fastest laps for the weekend.  Lara also owns a boutique exotic car dealership called “Rare Exotic Vehicles” in Asheville, North Carolina, that deals with very cool vintage hot rods and cars from the 1930’s to excellent examples suitable for Radwood and other venues.

You can Follow Lara’s racing exploits at @Lara.is.racing and her @rareexoticvehicles on Instagram or on Facebook. 

  • Lara Vernon with RaceBar
  • Lara Vernon and an Old Oldsmobile
Lara Vernon is a True Car Girl, both at and away from the track

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, we talk about the importance of hydration at the track and several ways to stay hydrated.  No, not that way.  At least until after the track goes cold.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and

Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  Several excellent cars Lara has currently that are looking for a new home.

2)  How autocross was (again) the gateway drug towards her wheel to wheel racing.  It’s not free, but it is very good way to learn car control and is also a low cost way of getting started.  (Winning several races and a championship was also a good way to show she was on the right track) and led to Lara getting her SCCA racing license.

3)  Vicki confuses the Fiesta ST with the Fiestas that she remembered from years ago.  Bill has not done a good job of visiting car dealers with her.  This will likely be remedied shortly.

4)  How she came to first meet Ron Mexico/Jeff Caplan and then the Race Bar team.  How her first race with Race Bar went in late 2019 and then again at the Charlotte Roval a few weeks ago.  An excellent companion for getting into the wonderful abyss that is endurance racing.

5)  How Lara attempted to challenge Dick Freelane’s mustache, quite a noble but usually futile effort.

6)  We hear about her experience racing at Road Atlanta in the snow.  The track is plenty exciting without having to rely on being snow covered.

7)  Lara has pursued and succeeded in amateur racing and has begun to dip her toe into some of the higher level opportunities with teams and sponsors.  It is a challenging sport to convert to making a living, or even breaking even.

8)  Lot of stories of her racing with Race Bar and some of the shared trials and tribulations both teams had at the Roval with Lucky Dog. 

9)  How Lara almost met Randy Pobst at the Charlotte Roval, how she almost raced against him, and how her Lobster faired against Randy’s Moose.

10)  We discuss how to make your own skid pad using cracked corn animal feed.  If she pulls it off, we hope we get an invite.

11)  She not only wins in “meat space” but also won a 24 hour endurance race in iRacing.

12)  The Ayrton Senna miniseries came up again in discussion.  We cannot wait for it to come out on Netflix.  If you have not seen the Ayrton Senna documentary entitles “Senna”, you are missing a great one.

13)  Vicki shows off her car skills by confusing a Kia Soul with a Nissan Cube.

GHIT 0138: Lara Vernon, Friend and Racing Driver

GHIT 0137: Danielle Tripp: Instructor and Racing Driver

Danielle Tripp at the Track

Danielle Tripp is our guest for this episode with special co-host Ben Dawson coming in as well. She is a member of the Winsome Racing team with Ben and has quickly progressed from starting our as a car girl who went on a racing experience event, started driving in HPDE events to become a racing instructor and raced in her first race in 2019.  It was great to catch up with Danielle and see how she progressed and where she wants to go.  We have no doubt she will get there, and quickly.  As a fellow Spec E46 (to be) racer, we appreciate the time and dedication it takes to build one of these on your own.

“Hold On Kids, Mom’s Driving!!!”

In addition, we also cover how to prepare for driving on a new (to you) racetrack.  We each have your own personal methods and present several alternatives that you may want to try. 

You can follow Danielle on Facebook at:  Danielle Tripp or by following Winsome Racing.  She is also on Instagram @dtrippnurseracer

Finally, in our Dominating with Dawson we go over how to introduce a new driver into racing, or more properly stated a few ways not to do it.  Everything can be an example, some are examples of things to do, some are things not to do. 

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and

Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Racers Love Racing

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  We get into her certifications of bad ass-ery, both local and global.

2)  How she started and how she first met Ben at the track and learned to be fast from him. 

Race Driver In Training
Race Driver In Training

3)  Me first hear about Banana Sandwich Mike.  Still looking for him. 

4)  She drives an E46 BMW called “Peaches” (story included) and a Mustang named “Jesse”.  How the names came to be is entertaining.

5)  How the cheapest of Hot Wheels car has led to the decimation of many family finances on racing cars.

6)  How Danielle was the impetus to her husband Jason starting to enjoy racing on track as well as the mechanical aspects of the sport.

7)  How the cash flow out for attending a track event may be cheaper than the cost of speed on a public road. 

8)  Ben foolishly promises to drive with us at the Thunderhill 25 in our Spec E46 if its ever finished.  Its recorded for all time.

9)  Bill cannot help but make comparison of their Winsome Racing team to our Lose Some racing team.  It is really just way too easy.

10)  Jennifer and Danielle bond over working on cars and how it compares to working on human bodies.  We are even more worried about going to a doctor now, lol, especially since Vicki agreed.

11)  Ben does his best impression of Debbie Downer from SNL.  Cue the sad trombones.

12)  We discuss the potential issues with being a female at a racetrack, which so far has been exacerbated in our experiences. 

13)  The group discussion on prepping for a new track is helpful in showing several different things that you can do to be ready before you even arrive in the paddock.  We also discuss ways to improve once you are on track as well.  Many great ways to increase your enjoyment, especially early in the day/weekend.

14)  Outdoorsy and RVShare make their usual appearance on the podcast.  They should really sponsor us.  Or maybe just give a free rental every now and then.

15)  Bill over-preps and shares an example below in a link for one track.  Please let us know what you do, especially if it is different or better.  We are always looking to improve.

16)  We do not support nor recommend stealing your parent’s car when you are underage, in spite of the fun we had during this episode.

17)  Vicki is introduced to left foot braking for the first time.  Mind >>> blown.  It apparently has never come up so far.  Or maybe it has, lol.

18)  Bill recommends the recent Top Gear episode segment with the cars going to the golf driving range.  One of the best segments ever.

19)  Jennifer starts the South Dakota RV story but valiantly tries to get out without the details.  Anyone want to hear more?  Please let us know.

20)  It looks like Reed will be trading cars with Danielle at an upcoming event.

21)  Ben makes it very clear his feeling on new car nannies.  Not a fan, especially on the track.

Excel track map link:

Track mapDownload

GHIT 0137: Danielle Tripp: Instructor and Racing Driver

GHIT 0136: Roland Hahn or as we prefer “Rolling with Roland”

Roland Hahn is our guest for this episode with Ann Moran occasionally chiming in throughout the episode.  Roland has been racing since the 80’s and has probably completed more races than we have laps (which is not really that much of an exaggeration).  Some fascinating stories and history that will help you and your team in the next race. 

Dominating with Dawson

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and

Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  What Roland has learned at his last 875 or so races in all types of cars and racing.  Yes, 875+ races and counting. 

2)  How he found his “home” in endurance racing and how endurance racing has changed since he first started at Nelson Ledges in 1987.

3)  Race prep, racing practices, and safety equipment have apparently changed dramatically (for the better) since the 80’s.

4)  Some team history about how Roland first met Ann and their current team began about two years ago, as well as how Ann began racing and met Roland.

5)  Vicki somehow manages to bring Xena into the podcast.  Still puzzled by how that fit into the discussion, twice, but it somehow fit, and led to a discussion of Vicki meeting Roland for the first time when he was in drag at NHMS last year.

6)  Things Roland has learned to do and perhaps even more importantly things not to do over his racing career.

7)  How Roland and Ann found their current BMW E36 and their thoughts about racing it and E36’s in general.

8)  Post race “hangovers”, even if you don’t drink, are real.  Especially if you race as often as Roland and Ann did last year.

9)  We compare our relative “Hot Mess” levels and performance at the recent Charlotte race with Lucky Dog.

10)  Roland does his best Karnac impression over a brake light switch at the Charlotte race.

11)  The Dip Stick disaster that was Charlotte Roval and a really good title to a TV show episode.

12)  How the two races at Charlotte went for their team.  It was a bit of a battle for a long time, but in the end, it seems to have worked out well in the 10-hour race.  This illustrates a series of the type of things that an endurance team can run into any weekend.  The impossible is not impossible, but merely unlikely.  The more laps raced, the more probably it becomes.

13)  How Roland employed his experience and knowledge to survive a bit better than most on Sunday.  17 hours of racing at the Charlotte Roval was pretty hard on all the cars that were there, especially with the heavy breaking required for the Roval.

14)  Jen does not share Roland’s preference for concrete canyon race tracks.  Maybe with time, but definitely not at the moment.

15)  Roland was very impressed with racing with Lucky Dog and with his level of experience, impressing him is not the easiest thing to do.  Especially impressive considering the COVID related conditions and the team not having its full team at the event.  More grown up but still playful is a great way to put it.

16)  Roland was kind enough to go into some of the race prep areas and philosophy he tries to employ for every race.  He may write a book someday.  We can’t wait.  Roland, do you need an editor or a co-writer?  We know a guy.

17)  ALWAYS learn something at every single race or you aren’t really paying attention.

18)  Succinctly put, we need a Roland.  Every team does.  We will be asking questions of him, often.  Since he listens to our podcast, we are sure we have caused him to laugh out loud many times.  Lol.

19)  Tips to improve as a driver abound throughout this episode.

20)  Roland provides the definitive answer to the long fought over question that torments the internet on a daily basis.  Where do you put the transponder on the car to get the faster lap or to win at the finish line.  You are welcome.  (and we are sure the arguments will continue long into the future anyway)

Roland:  Do you have a prep checklist or frequency etc. that we could share?  Or references we could find/get?

PS our offer to help in #16 above is rea if you are ever interested.

GHIT 0136: Roland Hahn or as we prefer “Rolling with Roland”

GHIT 0135: Ben Dawson Dominates on This Episode

Ben Dawson is our guest for this episode where we go over some of his racing history and a lot of how he has progressed to his current level and what he is looking to get into going forward.  It was great to catch up with him and learn a bunch more about him and his driving. 

It is also the easiest episode ever to put in our Dominating with Dawson segment where we go over several methods for a driver to determine their speed and adjust accordingly on a track.  This is especially important when you are learning and improving since your speeds will generally be increasing, as you wish it would, but that does impact your speed going into the subsequent turn or turns. 

Ben is tremendous driver, but not a hard core car guy and he treats the cars well, but more as a tool to use and get the most out of, as opposed to a piece of art or something to attribute more respect and awe to than deserved.  There are definitely a few people we know who could enjoy their cars and driving more if they shifted a bit towards Ben’s more pragmatic car philosophy.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and

Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  Everything you ever/never wanted to know about Ben and Ben’s driving history.  Driving really does seem to run in the family.

2)  Ben is unhappy we aren’t familiar with his 1986 Taurus MT-5.  We were quite happy not knowing about it, lol.

3)  Ben is in the midst on balancing his family and his current Spec E46 track car build.  we also go over some of the steps that Ben has progressed through and led to his current racing interest, including getting a bit sideways on the dirt roads in Alabama growing up, competitive carting, autocross, and endurance racing across the US.

4)  How Ben’s racing philosophy has matured into a very simple mantra, if its not fun, I’m out. 

5)  We also discover how Ben got DQ’ed from a win at his pine wood derby car but did end up with a large “Bodacious Big Bear” bear (that he still has).  I see a T-Shirt in the making, maybe even a Race Bar theme.

6)  Tips for getting out there and trying to do some high performance driving or a track day etc.

7)  A Good, Bad, and the Ugly for what to do and not do when looking to get started in high performance driving or racing.

8)  A great bunch of stories and examples of how a team and a driver progresses through beginning stages and gradually moves towards a more seasoned racing driver.

9)  Bill’s latest HPDE with NASA Great Lakes at Mid-Ohio last weekend in the Toyota 86.

10)  Bill’s rather intimidating trip into the Keyhole turn with a McLaren 720S and a Shelby 350R and a race prepped Corvette in the rear view.

11)  We also start discussing some of the turns at Mid-Ohio, as well as how to approach decreasing radius turns in general.

12)  How much fun it was to take his driving test in the same session as one of the passing drills.

13)  We get a question from Chrissy M that became an impromptu review of Mid-Ohio track itself, both the Club and Pro layouts that we ran over the weekend.  AND we cannot help but take the opportunity pass on our compliments to their recent episode related to racing and burnout.  It was fantastic, as always.

14)  Ben says “mecca” and Jennifer and Vicki hear “naked, you can guess how the rest went.

15)  A hilarious story about muscle relaxers and eating a tomato before going on track.  Don’t try this at home.

16)  Our first discussion of land speed records and record setting

17)  The Cerveza race team makes another appearance.  Still need to get them on the podcast.  Anyone know them?  We would love an intro.

Our upcoming schedule is a NASA Great Lakes HPDE at Autobahn (for the first time), a NASA Great Lakes HPDE at Autobahn NCM (for the first time), and a HPDE/Skid Pad/autocross event at Lime Rock.  Potentially, we may be going to Summit Point for a skip pad event in October or November.  Please let us know if you are coming or stop by anytime if you see us.

Links:

Mid-Ohio Track Map:  https://speedsecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mid-Ohio.pdf

Bill’s current track rankings are as follows:

  1. Pitt Race
  2. Charlotte Roval
  3. Gingerman
  4. NJMP – Thunderbolt
  5. Road Atlanta
  6. Watkins Glen
  7. Laguna Seca
  8. Mid-Ohio
  9. Thompson
  10. Monticello
  11. New Hampshire
  12. NJMP – Lightning
  13. Pocono

GHIT 0135: Ben Dawson Dominates on This Episode